


A Father's Tale

by Maximite



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Multi, Mystery, Original Character(s), Princess Bride but like with dumbasses, angus Mcdonald has a son, angus mcdonald grows up, did you know i love my boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-24 00:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maximite/pseuds/Maximite
Summary: Some stories are told with quite reverence. Some are told with feeling and elation spilling out with joy and happiness. Some are told through gasp of breath with tears streaming, moments of silence and shaking voice. The stories we hear and the stories we tell shape us into who we are, the memories of the past become the future. Then there are the stories we kept hidden, close to our hearts for our minds only. Caleb McDonald thought he had read every story made available to him, all his family had to offer, until he stumbles into his fathers study and discovers one of the greatest detective stories ever told.





	1. Caleb Learns to Ask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is written in a very Princess Bride way; Meaning that there is a story within a story. To keep confusion to a minimum the chapters will alternate, one being about Caleb reading the story and the other being the story he is reading.

Some stories are told with quite reverence. Some are told with feeling and elation spilling out with joy and happiness. Some are told through gasp of breath with tears streaming, moments of silence and shaking voice. The stories we hear and the stories we tell shape us into who we are, the memories of the past become the future.

In the McDonald household there was never a lack of stories, verbal or written. It was Caleb’s favorite thing about his home. There were so many stories told so many ways and by so many people, people who he loved and looked up to. Who he admired and strove to be like, because one day he would have his own stories and he wanted them to be just as fantastic as his families.

It wasn’t uncommon for Caleb to be caught with a book in his hand or bugging his uncle’s for another story. Often times Caleb would invade the McDonald’s library to see if there were any new stories he hadn’t read, there never were so he reread them again.

It was on such a day that Caleb discovered something new. It had been by complete accident and if anyone had asked he most certainly didn’t pick the lock to his father’s private area of the library, the door had definitely been left ajar. Once in the room there were stacks of books his father used for teaching, some theories and thesis written on many different discarded notebooks, and of course his father's prized possession, a collection of the Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop series signed.

None of this interested Caleb, these weren’t new books he had already read them, although he wouldn’t mind reading the Cleveland novels again…they were just too good. No what caught Caleb’s eye, after certain amount of digging, was a chest in the corner of his father’s work space. It had been covered by some discarded books, an old cloak that looked too small for his father, and a lock.

Caleb examined the trunk closer and noticed that the lock was unusual in that it only seemed to be for show. Which meant that the real lock had to magical, his father would never let something be so easily opened it was part of growing up in the McDonald house; everything was a puzzle here.

Caleb silently cast Mage hand, a spell he had been practicing with his sisters, and a small purple hand only slightly bigger than his own appeared out of Caleb's wand. He gently reached out with the phantasmal hand, but was stopped by a barrier right before reaching the chest. Caleb tried to move the hand at different angles, but it seemed magic wasn’t allowed to passed a certain point.

 

Caleb dismissed the spell with a grunt of frustration tucking his wand into his back pocket. He kicked at the chest with his foot, doing nothing except creating a dull pain where he had hit it. Caleb spent the next hour trying various different ways of getting in the chest, including trying to pry it open, but none seemed to work. He had been in this room for almost an hour with no success and none brewing on the horizon. He was definitely not going to let a simple chest stop him from satisfying his curiosity, but he was running out of ideas.

“Come on, please open!” Caleb huffed in frustration.

Suddenly there was a small click from the chest. Curious and a little wary Caleb reached for the lid of the trunk which now was slightly upraised having opened.  
He lifted the lid and saw a note attached to the underside written in his father’s handwriting, “The greatest lesson to learn is sometimes you simply have to ask.”

Caleb giggled with delight as he began to dig through the contents of the chest wondering why his father felt the need to throw what appeared to be a bunch of junk into it. There was an old newsie hat that Caleb found fit him perfectly, a fake sheriffs badge next to what looked like an old magnifying glass.

The strangest thing Caleb found was sitting at the very bottom of the chest with a small arm band on top of it. The arm band itself was pretty plain being silver in color and small in size; it had only one decorative feature on it and that was a series of four triangles all touching at their tops forming a diamond shape in the middle. Caleb didn’t know what it was, but it looked cool as he slid it onto his arm, although it was a little loose and he kept having to push it back to get it to stay.

Caleb then examined what had been under the bracer, a thick stack of papers all bound together with a thin piece of green string. There was nothing over the top of the front page only the Title itself and its author adorned it reading, “The World’s Greatest Detective in Mirror Image” by Angus McDonald.

Caleb was overly excited, he had read some of his father’s writing before, but most of it was academic or analytical in themes. This writing looked like a true and proper story one that apparently his dad had written. Why had he never seen it before and why was it in the bottom of a chess full of weird things, Caleb still didn’t understand the multitudes of bow ties.  
Caleb opened up the stack of papers and took a quick peek inside, there was a lot of scribbling on the margins. Different colors and what looked like different hand writings, he didn’t recognize any of them except his fathers whose annotations could be seen in red throughout the whole book. This was obviously a rough draft, the spelling corrections and notes were a testament to that, but Caleb decided that it was enough for him.

Quickly he put everything into a pile and grabbed one of the discarded messenger bags on the floor and gently stuffed everything into it. He closed the chest and replaced the lock and listened for anyone near him and once he was satisfied the coast was clear he ran to his room with his bounty.

That night’s dinner was loud and boisterous has usual, not unusual especially when you had almost fifteen people sitting at the table. Caleb smiled and laughed along with his family and kept secret about what he had found today. He watched everyone at the table, his sisters interacting with Grandma Lucretia asking to see her latest drawings, His dad arguing with Uncle Kravitz and Uncle Barry about something Caleb didn’t hear, and of course Grandpa Magnus and Uncle Taako teasing Grandpa Merle about his beard which almost completely white now.

Caleb was to busy trying to listen in on every conversation that he almost jumped out of his seat when someone next to him gave him a nudge.

“You know if you keep watching everyone with those big old eyes someone is bound to notice.” The person whispered to him.

Caleb turned to see his favorite aunt sitting next to him, “Oh Hello, Aunt Lup! I was just, there was a lot of you know…talking, I didn’t want to miss out on any of it.”

Lup grinned at him and leaned down closer, “So what are they all talking about, tell me that sweet gos little man.”

 

It was nearly midnight when Caleb pulled out the book from under his pillow where he had stashed it earlier that day. The messenger bag was hidden in his closest with minor illusion cast on it to make it appear as if it was just another hanging shirt.  


Caleb grabbed his flashlight on his bed side table listening one last time for any approaching adults. He could definitely pinpoint Magnus’ snoring from the other room, but all else was silent. Smirking Caleb pulled the comforter over his and flipped on his flashlight. With excited hands he flipped to the first page which held similar markings to ones he had seen on the other pages and Caleb began to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know you can find me on Tumblr at Maximit3 and I'm always up to talking!  
> 


	2. Angus and the Mysterious Note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys just a quick reminder that this chapter is the beginning of the story that Caleb started to read in the last chapter. If you get confused keep an eye on the chapter titles ;)
> 
> Big thanks to BullRun and SneakyMerc for the beta reading and brainstorming!

Angus Mcdonald was never one to turn down and adventure and certainly never one to turn down someone in need of help. The world was in need of help after the Hunger’s attack, and while the Bureau was definitely helping out, there were so many cases left unsolved. Angus found his usefulness in these cases, and people found faith in Angus. Most days in the coming years, he would receive a letter for help or stumble upon the need for it in a town that was too afraid to ask, but this time it was a little different.

It had started with the fliers in the town square of a city which he had been passing through, on his way to do a delivery for Ren. The poster itself wasn’t complicated, in fact it was almost overshadowed by other vibrant postings on the same board. It would have been easy for any normal person to notice, but Angus was not normal and he never missed a clue. In simple black letters on a white background the poster read, “The World's Greatest Detective.” No title, No name, No address, nothing except his well known moniker.

Angus approached the board warily and examined the poster, finding no identifying features. He grabbed the poster and removed it from its post, hoping there was something on the back indicating what it was about, but there was nothing. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him. Maybe the person was close by and would approach him upon seeing him with the poster.

No one did.

Angus pulled out his stone of far speech still eyeing the poster in his hand and dialed Ren’s frequency. He heard a click and a sound of shuffling as the connection was made to Ren’s stone of farspeech.

“Angus? Sweetie, is that you? Is something wrong? Are you okay? Is the package okay?” Ren’s sweet but worried voice echoed from the stone.

“No, ma’am, I’m alright.” Angus said smiling, “I just maybe need to ask a quick favor, and um, I was wondering how quickly you need this package delivered?”

There was a shuffling of papers from Ren’s end. Angus assumed she was pulling out her records regarding the package, “Um, well it was supposed to go to the Xander Lumal in Goldcliff for his Art show, but it didn’t have an urgent notice on it. Why? Did something happen? Should I call the boys?” Ren asked.

“No, no, you don’t need to call them. I just think I might have stumbled on a case.” Angus began to walk away from the board to a local inn where he had stayed overnight, not wanting to linger in the streets too long. 

There was a pause from the other side before Ren spoke again, “what kind of case?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, but if it's okay with you I’d like to figure it out.” He stated hopefully.

“Well sure Angus. If someone needs the World’s Greatest Detective, it must be important! Just leave that package at the inn there, and I’ll send another runner to come pick it up and continue the delivery.” There as a pause, and then, “Are you sure you don’t want me to call the boys, Angus?”

Angus smiled, “No, ma’am, they’re probably busy and I wouldn’t want to pull them away from their work. Besides there hasn’t been a case yet I couldn’t solve on my own, should be fine.”

“What about Rockport? I remember Taako mentioning they were a big help in solving that case. In fact I think he mentioned that you begged for their help, practically bawled when they solved it for you.”

Angus rolled his eyes walking into the inn, “Taako likes to embellish his stories, you know that ma’am. I’m not saying they didn’t help, but I wouldn’t call  _ them  _ the World’s Greatest Detectives.”

He could hear Ren’s chuckle from the stone, “you know I didn’t believe him for a second, Angus. Listen, in all seriousness, Angus, please promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise, ma’am.” Angus hung the stone and stuffed it into his pocket as he walked up to the hostess. He requested a room for one more night, explaining that his grandfather had not yet made it to the town to pick him up. She happily obliged, saying his room from the previous night was still available. He thanked her and paid the nightly fee as she grabbed the key to the room and held it out to him.

“Alright, sweetie, here you go. Now, if you need anything you, let any of the staff know, and they will be glad to help.”

Angus took the key she held, thanked her for her kindness, and headed for his room. He felt bad about lying to the nice woman, but trying to convince someone to rent a room to a twelve year old was never easy. So he tended to use the cover story that he was en route to meet his grandfather who had said he would pick him up here. More often than not no one questioned him. It was not entirely uncommon for children to travel to their relatives houses. As long as Angus had money to back up the story, that would be the end of it.

Angus unlocked his room the poster still in his hand and set down his pack which held the package he would leave at the front desk tomorrow morning. He secured the room with a Silence spell and locked the door before laying the poster on the wooden desk the room held.

He began to examine the poster and like before, there was nothing noticeably outstanding about the advertisement itself. The paper was indistinguishable from any other that had been seen in this region and held no scent or marking that would have given Angus a clue to where it originated. 

If someone wanted to catch the attention of the World’s Greatest Detective why would they use something so ordinary? Why not simply ask for his help, if that was indeed what was being asked of him at this juncture? No one would have cared about this paper, and he himself had almost passed it by; so what was its purpose?

Angus thought for awhile and had almost given up when an idea had occurred to him. He would have been the only one to stop for a poster like this. It was mysterious and plain and directed at  _ him  _ specifically to draw his attention. There had to be something more than what he was seeing. Something more than the words in front of him.

“Its a hidden message!” 

Angus bolted upright and reached for his wand which laid on the bed behind him. With quick practiced waves, he cast True Sight on himself and took another look at the mysterious poster. 

No longer was it simple black lettering on white paper, but rather a handwritten note in blue ink scrawled on the paper. The handwriting was messy and little hard to read, but with a little time Angus was able to make out the words:

> To the World’s Greatest Detective,
> 
> My son has gone missing and no one will talk about it. People in the streets won’t meet my eyes and my questions go unanswered by the militia. I’ve heard stories of you after the great attack when the sky turned black, You help people, and I’m asking you to help me. I know who took my son and I know why no one will talk to me. I can’t say much more, but that I beg you to find me. The city is Knoll, you may find me at my cart in the city square. 
> 
> Morris

There was no sound in the room thanks to the spell Angus had cast earlier, but he swore he could hear his own heart beat. If the poster itself hadn’t piqued his interest before, the handwritten plea for a lost child certainly did. Confusion still hung in the air even with the message being revealed. Angus wondered why it had been kept so secret. Why had so much work been put into a letter ensuring that only the true recipient read it? 

Angus noticed the letter never addressed him by his true name, only the one he had self declared some years ago for himself. It was obvious the man didn’t know the true identity behind the moniker, Angus wondered if he even knew he had called for the help of a twelve year old boy. Whatever this man’s understanding was it was clear he was in desperate need of help, and for whatever reason he had to ask for it secretly. 

Angus laid out the facts in his head analyzing everything he had learned from the poster. He didn’t really know what he was getting himself into, but he knew that somewhere out there was missing boy and now it was his job to find him. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know you can find me on Tumblr at Maximit3 and I'm always up to talking!  
> 


End file.
